Galah and Gang Gang advice

[Farmer]

Hi all, I am in need of some advice on a situation I have. A bit of background . . . My wife and I purchased a hand-reared galah 12 years ago. He would have been only a few months old.



In his first eight years, he spent a lot of time in the house on a big open play area. He was a great companion. Then we moved house to a larger block on two acres so had an outdoor aviary built.



He seemed really good for a few years in his outdoor enclosure (I would spend time with him a couple of times a day, before and after work). Then we noticed he didn't seem as happy so thought we would get him a companion.

We introduced a male Gang Gang cockatoo in the same aviary. They never fight, but kind of ignore each other. We have had the Gang Gang around a year.

Recently we thought perhaps the birds would like it if we pair them up with a female of the same breed and put them in separate enclosures.



We purchased a five year old galah that had been handled quite a bit by previous owner. It took around a month for our builder to build the new aviary (beside the current). In that time, we had the new galah in a smaller cage closer to the house. I would get her out each day to give her attention, scratches etc.


Last week the new aviary was complete so we put the female galah in on her own. That was a few days ago. We thought we would give it a few days for her to be comfortable then introduce the male galah.


The aviary's are join by a door, I opened the door, the female made her way into the older aviary and essentially went straight for my male galah attacking him.


The female galah didn't go for the gang gang but was quite relentless in her attack of the male galah until I quickly got her back in her aviary.


I also note this morning when my wife and I attempted to hang fresh toys, the female galah attacked my wife.


I assume the female galah has become attached to me and is jealous of others. If I am correct, how do I get her to detach from me and be comfortable with my male galah?


The male and female galahs can see each other clearly between the aviaries and they never appeared aggressive to each other. It is just the female being very aggressive to the male. Obviously I wouldn't have tried to introduce them if I thought that would have happened.



Is this all partly due it being breading season currently in Australia?



To make the situation more challenging, I have purchased a female gang gang. She is due to arrive next week.


Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Laurasea]

Is she DNA tested to be a female? Is the original guy DNA tested to be a male? That's were I would start.. hi and welcome to the forum!

 

[Farmer]

Hi Laurasea, neither have been DNA tested. The male was purchased from a breeder so I would hope he knew he was male. Perhaps the new galah could be in fact male? Hmmm

 

[Laurasea]

Definitely worth paying for the test then! Zoogen you can order the test sent to you when I did think was 25 bucks. Best place to start!

 

[ChristaNL]

Oh yes plze, doe some DNA-testing first (preferably before you buy, at the same time do do the major disease tests).

Just remember: a lot of baby-birds are taken from the parents at a really-really young age... so growing up human they have no clue they are a parrot, what kind of parrot and more important HOW to parrot.

So- (just one possible scenario out of dozens!) you may have an original bird that will not recognize one of his/her own kind and another one that may just be able to do that, but since bird number one gives of all the wrong signals...

It is a lot like locking people of the four corners of the world together in one room, maybe they wil get by very rudimentary with handsignals and facial expressions, but they wil miscommunicate a lot and irritation or worse may happen pretty soon.
Even if they all spoke english there are so may cultural differences, they may *never* get along smoothly.
At least it will not happen right away - it will take (a very long) time.


Parrot-hormones may also not be helpfull - you actually are at the southern hemisphere?
Placing birds together is best done when they are not all 'fired up' of course, but even then it can explode later...


(my greys sort of do not understand the other parrot is also a grey, they can share a cage / and like yours will mostly ignore each other/ the moment the hormones kick in I need to separate them because somehow the most hormonally challenged will try to drive the other away; one year it's the male, the next year the female who is "the agressor". They have been here for a few years now and though they now know each others calls and vocabulary, the coin has not dropped they are actually the same species... not sure if it will ever happen, but as always with parrots: never say never! )

 

[Farmer]

Thanks for your feedback ChristnaNL,


We also have a few wild galahs that, only in the past couple of months, come down to visit both galahs daily. That really gets them going, especially being in the breeding season.



Unfortunately I don't know the background of galah number 2. We purchased off a family that needed to move her on but they had only had her a month or so.

 

[EllenD]

Wow, that's quite the mess of a situation you have going on there...I'm sorry that this has happened, but you're learning a valuable lesson, or rather a few valuable lessons here:

#1) If a species of bird is not sexually dimorphic, meaning they can't be sexed visually, then there is no other way to determine their gender other than a DNA test by blood or feathers, and that includes by their breeders. Breeders do not have any way at all to sex their baby birds who are not sexually dimorphic, and if the breeder does not give you a DNA-Certificate showing that they have had a DNA-test done on the bird, then they don't know the sex. And most breeders don't willingly pay for the DNA-testing unless they specifically say that the DNA-testing is "included in the price"...So this is probably a good part of your problems, although not the main issue...

#2.) Most importantly, a lesson that many new parrot owners have to learn the hard way is that "You should never, ever, ever buy a second bird because you think that your current bird is lonely!!!" Parrots are extremely intelligent, and as far as the way that they form relationships with other parrots and "bond" with other parrots, they are very similar to human-beings. There is absolutely no way at all to EVER be able to predict how any two parrots are going to react to each other, or what type of relationship they are going to have with each other. And this is regardless of the species and/or the sex of any two birds you are attempting to put together. They might bond very closely with each other, they may like each other and get along but not bond closely with each other, they may not like each other but simply tolerate each other, they may hate each other, or they may hate each other and be very aggressive and violent with each other...And a plethora of other options in-between these...So this is why you should never, ever, ever buy a second bird FOR your current bird, as it usually ends in you simply having two birds that don't help each other in any way, and it often creates new and more serious problems that you didn't have in the first place before you brought the second bird home...

You also must always quarantine any new bird you bring home from your current birds for at least 30 days, in an entirely different cage/enclosure and in a different room or air-space. And even after the 30-day quarantine, you can't just assume that they are going to be able to be housed together. So you must have entirely different and separate set-ups for any new bird you bring home.

***As far as your Galah choosing you as it's "person" or "mate", and being aggressive towards the other Galah, to answer your question, there is absolutely NO WAY to force your Galah to "transfer" it's bond with you to the other bird. That's not how birds/parrots work, they are not at all like dogs or any other animal/pet when it comes to who they choose to like and who not to like, and who they choose as their "mate"; parrots are actually very much like people in this respect...Imagine trying to break-up a human couple and trying to force one of them to bond with someone else...It just doesn't work that way, and it can't be done. Your Galah chose you as it's mate or as it's "person", regardless of it's sex, that has little to do with who they choose as their mate, contrary to popular belief, as a male parrot may choose either a male or female person as their mate, and vice versa, a female may choose a female or a male person, etc.

***Something else that throws people for a loop sometimes is the fact that there is absolutely no rhyme or reason as to WHO a parrot chooses as "their person". Often times a couple who live together will bring home a parrot, with the intention that it will be "the wife's bird" or "the husband's bird", and that person is going to be the one who is responsible for everything having to do with the parrot: they feed the bird, they spend all their time with the bird, they give the bird treats, they talk to the bird, they train the bird, etc., while the other half of the couple wants nothing at all to do with the bird, doesn't like the bird, never wanted the bird, and spends no time with the bird at all...And guess what? The bird chooses the spouse who hates the bird, never wanted the bird, and wants nothing to do with the bird, and the bird wants nothing to do with the spouse who wanted the bird and who does everything with and for the bird...This often causes very serious issues within the household and the relationship of the couple, and usually results in the bird being re-homed. You just cannot guess or assume when it comes to who a parrot will like and who they will bond with, and it absolutely cannot be forced...

So as far as "transferring the bond of your Galah from you to the other Galah", it's most-likely not gonna happen, even if you were to start completely ignoring the bird, spending no time with bird, etc. In fact, all that usually does is causes the bird to become stressed, depressed, and usually results in the start of Feather-Destructive Behaviors and Self-Mutilation, especially in Cockatoos. So I don't advise you to try to "transfer the bird's bond from you to the other Galah", or to try to "force" the bird to stop being bonded to you, because it's not going to end the way you want it to, and will likely cause serious psychological and physical health issues to your bird..

And that's how it's going to be with all of these other birds that you're bringing home...They are going like who they like and bond with who they want to bond with...What you do need to figure out is what your main-goal with these birds is, in regards to what type of "pets" you want them to be...The Galah you already have is going to be "your bird" and "your pet", that's not going to change...But these other young babies that you're bringing home or are expecting soon, if you want them to be "pets" to you in the sense that they bond with you, then you need to raise them as such, and if not, if you want them to potentially bond with one of the other birds, then that's how you need to approach the situation...There is no way to ENSURE or GUARANTEE that any of them will bond closely with any of the other birds, and they may actually choose you or your spouse as their mate, even if you do everything you can do to ignore them and to not spend time with them, that's just how it goes. But you need to figure out what your goal is and then do your best to encourage that type of situation...Doesn't mean it will work-out the way you want it to though...And please don't start ignoring the Galah that is already bonded closely with you because you want it to be bonded to one of the other birds, because that isn't going to end well for the bird.

Also, i highly recommend that you get ALL of your birds DNA-tested immediately, because if you don't, you're going to end-up with any of a number of problems, both psychological and physical, such as chronic egg-laying and the potential for egg-binding, open or "community breeding", which is not recommended and usually ends in horrible tragedy due to jealousy and territoriality, and aggressiveness and violence due to territoriality and dominance, which usually results in serious injury and death...

 

[Farmer]

Thanks for the feedback EllenD, some great information there.


I am in the process of having all birds DNA tested (sending a same of their feathers away). That will give me some clarity over the situation.


Yes it is certainly a bit of a mess at the moment. I have removed the older galah from the situation and put him in his own aviary. He seems happy and himself.



The newer galah is in with the Gang Gang and both seem quite content. I have watched them very closely and there has been no remote sign of aggression between them.


The issue is with the two galahs - well specifically the new galah wanting to attack the older galah.


Plus the new Gang Gang arrives tonight so I will quarantine her for 30 days from the other three before looking to introduce her into the mix.

 

[ChristaNL]

Great job!


I am very curious abut the male/female ratio.
LOL that Gang Gang sounds so laid back in all this, can't wait to hear what he/she thinks about the new upcomming bird.